Gothenburg weathered an offensive explosion in the first quarter by Ainsworth but in the end the Swede boys basketball team couldn’t stop Ainsworth scoring threats in a 68-47 loss.

The Bulldogs scored 18 points in the first quarter extending their lead to as many as seven points, 18-11.

Ainsworth extended its lead to 10 in the second quarter before Gothenburg rallied. The Swedes put up 20 points including two three-pointers from Collin Hahn. A runner by Ross Ostendorf as time expired gave the Swedes a 31-30 halftime lead.

Head coach Roger Koehler said Ainsworth is a good, explosive team but Gothenburg continued to battle after offensive runs by the Bulldogs.

At intermission, Gothenburg made a defensive adjustment to stop Ainsworth’s Matt McLeod who had 19 points in the first half.

The plan worked on him but other players stepped up for the Bulldogs and contributed offensively, Koehler said.

Ainsworth came out after halftime and surged to an 10-point lead by outscoring the Swedes 20-9 in the third frame for a 50-40 lead.

Cold shooting continued for Gothenburg while Ainsworth seemed to operate at a high level.

The Bulldogs scored 18 more points in the fourth period and cruised to a 21-point win over the Swedes.

“We got physically and mentally tired in the second half,” Koehler said. “We weren’t able to run sets and that’s frustrating.”

However, Gothenburg didn’t quit competing, he added,

“It wasn’t a lack of effort on the players’ part,” Koehler said. “They busted their butts the entire time. We couldn’t get shots to fall.”

Tanner Borchardt was the Swedes high scorer with 15 points while Hahn pitched in 11 off the bench.

Ainsworth had three players in double digits with McLeod pacing them with a game-high 24 points.

Gothenburg has a week of practice before taking on Ogallala this Friday.

The Swedes will work on their shooting, Koehler said, and make sure the team’s legs are fresh.

“We have to get out to a lead early against Ogallala,” Koehler said. “They have streaky shooters that put up a lot of attempts.”

Ainsworth beats reserves

The Gothenburg reserves were limited to four first-quarter points which gave Ainsworth a 13-point cushion that wouldn’t be relinquished in a 54-36 loss.

Gothenburg did outscore the Bulldogs 15-12 in the second period shrinking the deficit to 29-19 at halftime but the Swedes couldn’t complete the comeback in the second half.

Leading scorer for Gothenburg was Ty Clement with seven points while Patrick Messersmith, Bryce Kowalewski, Dominic Long and Will Healey each scored six.

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